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The Blue Jackets have had four captains since they joined the NHL in 2000. They're still searching for their first good one.

Defenseman Adam Foote seemed to be the guy, especially this season when the stifling presence of president and general manager Doug MacLean was swept away by his offseason firing and Foote was allowed to truly run the dressing room.

But the events of Tuesday, the NHL's trade deadline day, sent a chill through the entire Blue Jackets organization, and Foote is now seen as more fraud than leader.

It's believed that Foote and his agent, Rick Curran, set their contract demands at a height they knew the Blue Jackets wouldn't accept.

Proof: The Blue Jackets moved up from their first offer of two years, $6 million to two years, $7 million, but Foote and Curran refused to budge from their initial demand of two years, $8 million.

When Howson suggested to Foote that the sides continue negotiating beyond the trade deadline -- that the Blue Jackets' playoff hopes, faint as they are, deserve a hearty attempt -- Foote responded in a way nobody could have predicted.

According to numerous NHL sources, Foote threatened to be "a bad teammate, a bad captain and a bad player" the rest of the season if he weren't re-signed or traded to his preferred destination -- the Colorado Avalanche, where his best NHL years were spent.

The Blue Jackets made a final plea, urging Foote to consider all that the Blue Jackets' ownership group, the coaching staff and the fans had done for him the past three seasons.

Again, according to sources, he responded by saying that he "doesn't owe anybody anything."

With that, Howson had no choice but to deem him un-captain-worthy and seek a trade. That he got a first-round draft pick out of the Avalanche is almost remarkable.

Foote had a private plane waiting for him here and equipment waiting for him in Calgary, where the Avalanche played Tuesday night.

It's believed that Foote got ugly only because he had to, that so many people -- his family, the Avalanche, etc. -- were counting on his arrival in Denver, and the Blue Jackets weren't playing along.

Foote has denied saying he would become a distraction.

"I would never say stuff like that. I'm a professional," he said. "I've never been that way throughout my career. All I told them is it would be too stressful for my wife and I to stay without knowing for sure I was part of the future there."

But think about it: Foote said he couldn't play the rest of this season without a contract extension, without knowing what his future held. But he hasn't signed an extension with the Avalanche.

The bet here is that he signs for far less than $3.5 million per season in Colorado. A further bet is that fans in Nationwide Arena won't forget how Foote orchestrated his departure.

Where do the Blue Jackets go from here? The plan is to not name a captain for the rest of the season, perhaps not until late in next season's training camp.

By then, there will have been plenty of time for a certain player to step forward and grab the mantle, to show that he's not only the Blue Jackets' best player on the ice, but the go-to guy in the room.

At this point in the Blue Jackets' existence, and at this point in his career, it has to be Rick Nash, doesn't it?

Rad Brad

It had to sting the Blue Jackets more than a little bit. Not only did they miss out on the Brad Richards sweepstakes at Tuesday's deadline, but Richards had a career-high five assists in his first game with the Stars two nights later.

Richards would have waived his no-trade clause to join the Jackets, but the Stars offered in trade something the Blue Jackets could not -- a proven NHL goaltender in the early stages of his career. Mike Smith, 25, now becomes the Lightning's latest attempt at a franchise goaltender.

Richards was asked about his willingness to join the Blue Jackets in an NHL conference call Friday. Here's what he said:

"Well, there was no list or anything that was rumored. I just told Jay (Feaster, Lightning general manager) that if the ownership was going to make him do this, we weren't going to hold him hostage with the no-trade clause, but we wanted to control our destiny.

"From the start, Jay told us that Dallas had the best offer, and we said Dallas would probably be the No. 1 pick if something happened. He said Columbus was coming in with an offer, and there were a couple of other teams, too.

"That's when I said if something falls through with Dallas, then maybe Columbus, because I have a good friendship with Freddy Modin, who I played with for the first six years of my career. And then, obviously, with some of their personnel -- Rick Nash and some of the younger guys -- I thought it would be an opportunity maybe to go and grow with that team. But it never really came down to that."

Slap shots

Sources in Detroit say the Blue Jackets wanted a first-round draft pick from the Red Wings for center Sergei Fedorov, who eventually was shipped to the Washington Capitals. "We had a little bit of interest, but our picks are deeper in each round than everybody else's," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. "For us to get anything, we have to be almost a round ahead of everybody else. So we didn't want to move the first rounder." … Pittsburgh gave up a boatload to get Atlanta's Marian Hossa -- Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a No. 1 pick. This will be a major gaffe if the Penguins don't re-sign Hossa. … Best deadline performance: Washington, for adding Fedorov to play with Alexander Semin on the No. 2 line and a goaltender for today and the future, in Cristobal Huet. Worst deadline performance: Montreal, for shipping Huet to the Caps for a No. 2 pick in 2009 and turning over the pipes to rookie Carey Price. Risky, risky. Also, the No. 2 pick is Anaheim's, so it'll likely be even lower in the pecking order. … The Sabres' self-mutilation continues. They offered pending unrestricted free agent Brian Campbell a three-year contract worth $17.25 million. When he declined, they traded him to San Jose for inconsistent winger Steve Bernier. Campbell wants a six-year deal, which he will get this summer.